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Last year I posted professional goals along with quite a few other bloggers and it helped to keep me somewhat focused on them (for at least the beginning of the year). I am going to do so again in the hopes that I do even better this year. My goals this year are a bit less aggressive than last year's goals, but I think they're still enough to challenge me and make me work at them.
Community Involvement
New Posts on SSC Forums: This goal is only 25% of last years goal, but I've fallen completely out of the habit of posting on a regular basis, so I'm hoping that sometime soon I get into the habit again. If I do, I shouldn't have any problem meeting this goal. (Currently at 1412)
Article for SSC: I'm not really sure what I'll write this one on, but I enjoyed the time I spent on the last one and think this is a good goal to continue yearly.
Blog Posts Written: I really enjoy blogging and want to get back into it, so I'm setting a somewhat more moderate goal of 35 posts this year. I'm really hoping to exceed that, but don't want to feel like it's out of reach if I miss a few weeks.
Participate in T-SQL Tuesdays: T-SQL is my focus, so participating in these just makes sense and serves as a good inspiration for blog topics.
Host a Lunch and Learn at my Office: I haven't talked to anyone about this yet, but I figure I still have 11 months to pull it off and there are a lot of people I work with who are interested in learning more about SQL Server, so I figure I'll sneak one of these in there this year.
Read SQL Books: I want to claim that I've definitively *finished* 2 books this year. Last year I had 3 down as my goal and don't claim any because I didn't exhaustively read any of them. I skimmed a couple and read bits and pieces of others, but I think reading 2 full SQL books a year is within reach.
Attain MCTS + MCITP: Last year I let myself use the excuse that the closest testing center was almost 2 hours away, but this year I'm fairly sure I work about a block from one, so that excuse no longer holds water. I'd like to knock both of these out this year
Learn the basics of .Net: Really, my biggest holdup with this is just how confusing Visual Studio is if you've never used it. If you're used to it that might seem ridiculous, but I get lost every time I try to mess with it. I'm sure this would be fixed if I ever really sat down to devote time to it though and I'd like to do that this year so I can take that excuse off the books.
Add Linked In Connections: I feel like LinkedIn is a decent tool for maintaining professional connections and I'd like to continue expanding my network. Last year I did very well on this goal and would like to keep up that positive growth. (Currently at 84)
Attend SQL Server User Group Meetings: SSUG meetings are a great way to learn about topics as well as meet your peers and keep a pulse on what's going on in the community.
Attend a SQL Saturday: We had a local SQL Saturday in Raleigh last year, and as far as I know there's no reason they wouldn't hold another one this year. Ideally, I'd like to hit up 1 or 2 others, but a lot of this goal depends on where they end up being hosted and how busy I am on those particular weekends, so I want to keep this goal conservative.


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Although the offseason has just started, we already have training camp on our mind. We've reached a point in our agreement with SUNY Cortland that enables us to consider our training camp options for the coming summer. We will look at how other venues compare to our current arrangements to make sure we are getting the most out of our camp experience for players, coaches and fans.
"SUNY Cortland's been great to us," said general manager John Idzik. "They're extremely hospitable and the campus is a terrific setting for our team to bond and prepare for the upcoming season. At this time, we simply wish to perform our due diligence to ensure we have the best possible environment for our camp."
We have conducted four of the past five training camps at SUNY Cortland and have been pleased with the way the university, the town, the region and Jets fans have embraced us during our month-long stay in upstate New York.
"Our unique partnership with the Jets has been positive for the college, Central New York and, of course, the team," SUNY Cortland President Erik Bitterbaum said. "We fully expected the Jets to examine their options, as our agreement allows. And we are confident that our top-notch facilities, hard-working staff and welcoming community will remain an attractive option."

subset: commoncrawl


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2011 AWARDS voting started [fergcorp_cdt_single date="sat jan 15 2011 12:00:00 -500″].
Created by everyday photographers for everyday photographers, this is the original online video contest for TV shooters. Thousands of b-roll.net members from around the world upload video clips to our site and the votes from those same members determine the winners. The winning clips are accessible on b-roll.net as tremendous educational resources for students and professionals around the world.
Entry Fee:
There is no entry fee for this contest. You must be an activated, registered member of the b-roll.net FORUM and be logged in to enter, compete in and judge the contest.
Contest Period:
All work must have aired between January 1 and December 31, 2010. Clips may be entered between 12 noon ET on January 1, 2011 and 12 noon ET on January 15, 2011.
The First Round of judging will commence on January 15 and go through January 29, 2011. The Second Round of judging will go from January 29 through February 12, 2011.
General Rules:
The entering photographer must be the primary producer of all entries submitted, having shot at least 90% of the video in the story. No re-editing of stories is allowed. Inappropriate category selection may result in disqualification. A photographer may submit a maximum of two entries in each category, but an individual story can only compete in one category. The completion time for each category includes the period from the first shoot of the story until its first airing.
The contest is divided into five Core Categories, which demonstrate the projects we produce everyday, and five Supplemental Categories. A first, second and third place winner will be chosen in each of the 10 categories, as well as three division champions and one grand champion.
Selection of champions will be determined by the votes cast for clips in the Core Categories. To qualify, a photographer must have entered at least one clip in at least 4 Core Categories with only the highest-scoring clip in each category being counted. Core Categories include: Spot News, General News, Feature, In-Depth, and Live Shot / Standup.
Best of b-roll.net
Having proven to be the best in the Core Categories of shooting, three champion photographers will win BEST of b-roll.net.
- Division 1: Domestic (USA) Large Market (Market Size 1-30)
- Division 2: Domestic (USA) Small Market (Market Size 31-212)
- Division 3: International (All other countries)
b-roller of the Year
The grand champion of the contest, the b-roller of the YEAR, will be determined by total votes cast for that member's uploaded clips.
Core Categories Spot News General News Feature In Depth Live Shot / Standup |
Supplemental Categories
Nat Sound Sports Non-News Production Investigative |
All registered members of the b-roll.net FORUM will be able to vote in this contest. Each member will be allowed one vote per entry. Everyone will be able to vote for their own stories.
There will be two rounds of voting. During ROUND 1, voting will narrow the clips to the top 10 entries in each category. In ROUND 2, b-roll.net FORUM members will vote again for their favorite entries from the narrowed field of clips.
Once voting is completed, scores will be tabulated. The clip with the highest points in each category will be declared the winner. Second and third place will be awarded in the same fashion.
To vote, a logged-in member need only watch a clip and click on the 5-star scale to place his or her vote.
In our voting system, 5 stars is the best, and 1 star is the worst.
How to Submit Entries:
Go to b-roll.net/tv and follow the guidelines to upload video clips. Once the video has been uploaded and the contest entry period has begun, the clip can be entered into specific contest categories by clicking on "my videos" and editing the selected video.
PLEASE NOTE: The "Video Channel" that is selected when the initial upload is complete is not the contest category. You must select "edit" for the video clip and click in the blue "b-roll.net AWARDS" box to enter a particular video in the contest.
b-roll.net will take every precaution in handling your entries but cannot be responsible for non-receipt or faulty uploading. The entrant must be the only copyright holder or have been authorized by the copyright holder to submit entry. b-roll.net has permission to copy and display all entries for purposes of promoting the b-roll.net AWARDS without any remuneration. The winner of any prizes will be fully responsible for any taxes that may be required. Entries that disregard the above rules will be subject to disqualification. All awards are subject to the approval of the b-roll.net AWARDS Committee. The b-roll.net AWARDS Committee has authority to interpret contest rules.
Still Have Questions?
If you still have questions, please e-mail the b-roll.net AWARDS Committee at: firstname.lastname@example.com. Good luck and have fun!
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[…] When you're uploading your video, you are asked what "channel" you'd like the video to be in. Please keep in mind that this is not the contest categories. You must edit your clip to enter the b-roll.net AWARDS. […]


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This collection of artist opportunities includes international shows, juried exhibitions, calls for proposals, a call for elementary students' art, an art festival in Indian Wells, and a writer's retreat in Iceland. Themes include botanicals, animals, endangered species, photography, taste & smell, teachers against prejudice, art inspired by the novel Frankenstein, portraits (this one is for members of the Portrait Society only). They have been briefly reviewed to ensure eleigbility of Oregon artists.
Continue reading Calls to Artists for October 2017 and Beyond


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fluffy vanilla cupcakes with nutella buttercream
Another Friday, another fantastic cupcake recipe! These cupcakes are unreal. The cake is so light and fluffy, with a perfect sweet vanilla flavor. Of all the cupcakes I've made, I would say this recipe comes closest to vanilla cupcakes from a bakery! And the Nutella buttercream… well, you had me at Nutella. I whipped it until it was light as a cloud, and it made the perfect complement to the cupcakes.
I like that the cupcakes have a sort of untraditional method of adding the ingredients… the butter is cut into the dry ingredients before the wet ingredients are added. I think it really helps in making the butter evenly distributed and contributes to a perfectly textured cupcake. I love (as always) that they are made with simple, easy ingredients. I had everything I needed for these babies in the cupboard already! Gotta love one less annoying trip to the grocery store. These cupcakes are currently at the tip top of my "favorite desserts" list!
Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream
adapted from Baking a Moment1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, cold, cut into small cubes
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk (I used skim, and it worked fine)
2 teaspoons vanilla extractPreheat oven to 350. Line two muffin tins with paper liners. In a large bowl or a the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the milk and vanilla in a measuring cup, and add about half of the milk mixture to the flour mixture. Beat until well blended and smooth. Add the other half of the milk mixture, and beat until smooth. Fill paper liners 2/3 full and bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for a few minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Nutella Buttercream
adapted from Krissy's Creations1 1/2 cups butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup NutellaIn a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until it is light and fluffy. Gradually add the powdered sugar and salt, beating until smooth Add vanilla and beat until combined. Add Nutella and beat until light and fluffy. Frost cooled cupcakes and enjoy!


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Although systemd is not officially supported by Gentoo and it is not even in the tree yet, some of our packages already provide support for installing systemd units. This is because a few upstreams already supply and install systemd units in their packages.
I think it is important to support installing those units even before systemd is committed to gx86. This way, we can ensure users switching to systemd will have at least minimal working system without hacking packages around to get the necessary units. That's why I've already committed the systemd.eclass.
My point here is that every package for which upstream officially supports systemd (and thus the configure script supports --with-systemdsystemunitdir
) should use the systemd eclass. This way, we're able to globally and universally control whether, where and how systemd units are installed.
Devs often refuse to use the eclass because it installs the units unconditionally. As I said earlier, and as I repeat now — that can be changed. Just take a part in the discussion that I tried to raise on the mailing list. The point of using the eclass is that we can change that and then have a way to let our users handle the change gracefully.
And please do not try to enforce your own conditionals on the eclass functions. Adding local USE=systemd
is no solution. It just makes things harder for users for relatively small benefit.


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Finally, we are going to have NBA basketball again.
After more than 15 hours of negotiations Friday into Saturday morning (following a week of secretive talks), the NBA owners and players have reached a handshake deal on a new collective bargaining agreement the sides announced. (Ken Berger at CBSSports.com broke the story.)
"We've reached a tentative understanding," said NBA commissioner David Stern at a hastily put together 3:30 a.m. press conference. "(The deal) is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations. We're optimistic that will all come to pass and the NBA season will begin Dec. 25."
That will be a Christmas Day start with a triple-header followed by a 66-game season, providing both the owners and players ratify this deal.
There are a lot of details still to be worked out — first up are all the "B" list issues such as draft age and drug testing, things the sides do not all agree on but are not serious enough to block a deal. Then the players' union has to be reformed (remember they dissolved to allow for antitrust lawsuits to be filed) and finally the owners and players will have to vote on a final version of the agreement.
All of that is going to take 10 days to two weeks. The lockout will not officially be over until then.
Training camps and a free agency period will begin simultaneously on Dec. 9, Stern said.
At that press conference neither Stern nor NBPA director Billy Hunter were willing to talk about a lot of details of the agreement because neither had spoken to their entire constituency yet. However, this deal is likely close to the last offer from the owners and Stern to the players. There may have been a little movement, but not a lot from the offer the players rejected less than two weeks ago.
The players got a little more than 50 percent of league revenue (BRI) but not 51 percent, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN. It is apparently going to be a band in the 49-51 percent range, but will essentially fall as 50/50. In the previous labor deal the players got 57 percent of the league revenue and that was ultimately the big issue in these talks — the owners say they were losing money and wanted a bigger cut of the more than $4 billion in annual revenue the NBA generates. With this they should about cover the $300 million the owners claim to have lost last year.
Talks Saturday took a turn towards blowing up again when players attorney Jeffrey Kessler — the real pit bull for the union — was on a conference call with the talks and said the players demanded 51 percent of the revenues. There was a feeling that might blow the whole talks up, but cooler heads prevailed.
One thing the deal will do is prevent larger-market, big-spending teams from competing in the free agent market as they had in the past, said NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver. Again there were no details but with a stronger luxury tax and other punitive measures it will be hard for teams to spend up to and around $90 million a season. The deal also raises the salary floor — those small market teams need to spend up to 85 percent of the cap the first two years and 90 percent after that.
This would be a 10-year deal where both sides can opt out at year six.
Neither side loves this deal, which is how a good compromise should end. There are owners and players that will vote against it, but it is expected a majority of both will pass it.
In the end, Spurs owner Peter Holt summed it up best:
"We want to play basketball. Let's go play basketball."


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Book review: Walk in Silence by J.G. Sinclair
Actor turned thriller writer John Gordon Sinclair – still remembered as the star of the acclaimed 1981 football-themed film Gregory's Girl – is on scintillating form as his memorably lethal legal eagle Keira Lynch dices with death in the heart of Albania's brutal underworld.
Over thirty years as a screen and stage actor have blessed this clever, observant writer with a gift for high-octane, visually exciting drama and crisp dialogue… and Walk in Silence harnesses those skills with breathtaking power and bone-rattling energy.
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdKeira Lynch isn't your typical Glasgow lawyer. She has a reputation as a scrapper and troublemaker, is haunted by demons in her past, is a deadly accurate knife thrower and is at her most dangerous when she is threatened.
Keira is recovering both physically and emotionally after getting caught in the crossfire from her last case which saw her fail to save the life of her client, 20-year-old Albanian prostitute Kaltrina Dervishi, who had agreed to give evidence against a feared drug dealer, trafficker and pimp, but was shot dead by his hired hitman.
Determined to track down Kaltrina's five-year-old son Ermir in her home country to give him the money his mother left for him and 'somehow make his life better,' Keira has jetted out to Durrës in Albania to begin her search.
Informed by one of the hotel staff she has befriended that 'one of our main industries is corruption,' Keira joins forces with his son, local policeman Pavli Variboba, but is soon in danger and under the close eye of the notorious Clan.
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdKeira had naïvely thought money would help her find the boy but in a terrifying mafia gangland where anything can be bartered – trust, loyalty and even lives – his kidnappers have other ideas. They want the freedom of their gang member back in Scotland, the man she is about to help to bring to trial and who once put three bullets in her chest.
Can she walk away in silence, and save Ermir? Or will she have to play the game, fight and risk losing everything?
An overwhelming sense of menace, spine-tingling tension and a plot that moves as fast and unexpectedly as a rattlesnake make the two-year gap since Keira's last appearance in Blood Whispers well worth the wait for her impatient fans.
There is a thrilling, raw intensity to Sinclair's taut prose which drives this hard-hitting, edge-of-the-seat rollercoaster ride through death and danger as our fearless, doggedly determined Keira runs the gauntlet of a brand of gang violence that would send the rest of us running for home.
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWith its dark themes, frenetic pace, intriguing star player, remarkable evocation of lawless Albania, and gobsmacking twist in the tail, this exhilarating slice of Tartan Noir confirms Sinclair as a fully paid-up member of the Scottish thriller writers' five-star club.
(Faber, paperback, £12.99)


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ConcepTests are conceptual multiple-choice questions that were originally designed by Eric Mazur at Harvard University for students in large physics classes (Mazur, 1997 ; NSF, 1996 ). They:
- Focus on a single concept
- Can't be solved using equations
- Have good multiple-choice answers
- Are clearly worded
- Are of intermediate difficulty
Watch a 2-minute video clip of Eric Mazur using and discussing ConcepTests.
Assessment with ConcepTests
ConcepTests are generally short, and as they are multiple-choice, they are useful for immediate quantitative assessment of student understanding. It may be useful to the instructor to know how many correct responses there are to a question both before and after peer instruction to better gauge student understanding. Read about different methods of collecting this feedback.
Enhancing ConcepTests with Peer Instruction
ConcepTests can also be the basis of a group-reflective activity (especially if the students have trouble answering the initial ConcepTest).
Mazur, 1997 follows up every ConcepTest question with a think-pair-share activity (he refers to it as peer instruction) in which students then try and explain to a neighbor why they think that the answer they just gave is the correct one.
Adjusting ConcepTests for Levels of Comprehension
Introductory science students may attempt to deal with the material by trying to simply memorize it. McConnell et al. (2003) suggest that ConcepTests should be additionally restricted to the level of comprehension or application in Bloom's taxonomy.
Example ConcepTest question
Other Resources
McConnell et al. (2006) . Using ConcepTests to Assess and Improve Student Conceptual Understanding in Introductory Geoscience Courses. Journal of Geoscience Education, 54(1), 61-68.
McConnell et al. (2003) . Assessment and Active Learning Strategies for Introductory Geology Courses. Journal of Geoscience Education, 51(2), 205.
Journal of Chemical Education has information on Conceptual Questions (more info) including:
- Discussion of what they are
- Several libraries of conceptual questions
- Suggestions on writing conceptual questions
- Questions divided by course type
- Advice on using and writing ConcepTests
- Links to more ConcepTest resources
- A video clip of an instructor using ConcepTests


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Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard Law School professor and consumer advocate challenging Republican Senator Scott Brown, took home more than $700,000 in compensation from teaching and consulting fees over a two-year period from 2010 to 2011, according to her most recent financial disclosure form.
Over that same period, she was collecting a six-figure salary for two consecutive federal government appointments.
She earned about $165,300 from September 2010 through August 2011 as a special adviser to President Obama, setting up the consumer protection agency she helped establish.
Before that, she collected a total of $192,722 for leading the congressional panel that oversaw the US bank bailout. That government salary covered a period that began before her latest disclosure report, spanning from November 2008 through September 2010.
Those numbers were not required to be in her financial disclosure report but were provided by her campaign.
Warren's compensation puts her in the top echelon of American earners.
A Democrat, Warren has pitched her campaign as a fight for the middle class, which she says has been left behind in the recession while the financial industry has been protected. Her salary and net worth have been a constant theme in Republican attacks against her.
Brown's campaign argued yesterday that her high salary makes her "an elitist hypocrite.''
Within Warren's $700,000 in teaching and consulting fees is a $43,938 payment she earned in 2010 as a consultant for Travelers Insurance company for cases involving asbestos victims.
"She is firmly entrenched in the same '1 percent' she rails against, and she is more than happy to make tens of thousands of dollars defending powerful insurance companies against middle-class victims,'' said Jim Barnett, a spokesman for Brown.
"Despite her claims, you don't need to be a Harvard professor to know that insurance companies don't hire bigtime lawyers because of their interest in protecting the little guy.'' But Warren's campaign said her work for Travelers was intended to make sure victims got a "fair shake'' in compensation claims.
Democrats argue that Warren's high salary does not detract from her conviction that the system needs change to protect the middle class.
"Elizabeth went from a maintenance man's daughter to a Harvard law professor through hard work and determination,'' said Kyle Sullivan, a Warren spokesman. "She's made her life's work understanding the pressures facing families like hers, standing up to the big banks and credit card companies.''
Warren has also railed at inequities in the tax laws that favor multinational corporations over average wage-earners.
"A big company like GE pays nothing in taxes and we're asking college students to take on even more debt to get an education,'' she has said.
Warren's financial disclosure form shows she owns stock and other investments worth more than $3 million, including between $100,000 and $250,000 in IBM stock. IBM is listed along with GE and 10 other major US companies that relied on loopholes to pay significantly less than the standard corporate rate between 2008 and 2010, according to a report from Citizens for Tax Justice, a politically liberal group.
The report said IBM effectively paid an estimated 3.8 percent in taxes over that period, legally avoiding the full 35 percent rate. The group contended that GE's effective rate was negative 61.3 percent over that period.
"Elizabeth has been clear and unequivocal that large corporations should pay their fair share of taxes - IBM included,'' Sullivan said in an e-mail.
Warren's newest financial disclosure form was filed late last month, a requirement of seeking office. In a previous disclosure, she reported earning $349,375 at Harvard in 2009, in addition to about $182,000 in royalties and consulting fees.
The newest disclosure data from Warren were first reported by the Associated Press.
Brown was most recently required to file in the spring. It showed he earned a $700,000 advance for his memoir, "Against All Odds.'' He earns $174,000 annually as a US senator.
He will not be required to file again until May 15.
Warren's form also showed that her house in Cambridge, owned with her husband, Harvard professor Bruce Mann, is worth between $1 million and $5 million. She did not have to disclose Mann's salary. He is also a tenured professor at Harvard.
Brown and his wife, Gail Huff, have assets worth between about $1 million and $2.3 million - including their home in Wrentham and three Boston rental condos - according to the Associated Press, citing an analysis from the Center for Responsive Politics.
Noah Bierman can be reached at email@example.com


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What's black and white and brings in the green? An animated penguin movie, kiddies! And thus the penguin craze begun with March of the Penguins and continued by Happy Feet now teaches us how to "hang six." The CGI-animated Surf's Up takes the form of a mockumentary, starring a teen penguin who sheepishly confesses he can't sing or dance.
Instead, 17-year-old Cody Maverick of Antarctica rides waves, and oddly, he's one of many penguins who do (aside from a stray surfing chicken, it's surfing penguins all the way). As voiced by rising star Shia LaBeouf, Cody's in way over his head, but he gets a mentor—and the father he never had—in reclusive surf legend "Big Z" (Jeff Bridges). He's been in hiding for a decade, but reluctantly comes out of retirement to coach Cody, who's never forgotten Big Z's once-upon-a-time advice: "Never give up and find a way, 'cause that's what winners do."
When not flirting with a lifeguard named Lani (Zooey Deschanel) or befriending the aforementioned Chicken Joe (Jon Heder), Cody engages Big Z in contentious but productive arguments. Eventually, Cody learns the zen of surfing: prioritize love of the sport and forget about empty concerns like competition and impressing SPEN (the Sports Penguin Entertainment Network). Meanwhile, lesser light Tank Evans (Diedrich Bader) has a sexual thing for his large, golden trophies (his "ladies"). A bit randy for a kids' movie, but what the hey.
James Woods does his usual fast-talking shtick as promoter Reggie Belafonte, and bonus points for casting surf legends Kelly Slater and Rob Machado (as themselves) and comic Brian Posehn as Cody's laconic, jealous older brother Glen. Nothing here burns with energy, but neither will Surf's Up make your head ache with brusque animation or screeching celebrity voices—like its aging-hippie father figure, the movie just wants to go about its business unbothered and without bothering anyone else. Faint praise, yes, but also a somewhat majestically plumed bird amidst the flock of bird-crap-colored seagulls that are the CGI critter comedies of the last few years.
Many of the gambits employed by directors Ash Brannon (Toy Story 2) and Chris Buck (Tarzan) work, including the naturalistic voice acting and the clever mockumentary touches, like fake archival footage with film scratches and washed-out color. The plot is formulaic and some of the gags overly familiar (if I have to see one more animated diversion about chanting, war-painted natives threatening to boil the funny sidekick, I'm out), but the mightily impressive animation of natural landscapes and killer waves is enough to batten down the flaws.


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Seasonal restoration work is wrapping up!
Oct 8, 2013 at 2:34 PM 1 Comment
Several significant environmental restoration projects are happening here in some of Portland's 298 miles of streams and rivers. The City Green blog has been a little quiet on these this summer, since staff working on these projects have been up to their waders (literally) most of the summer to meet tight in-water construction schedules. With the season coming to an end and some rainy days spent back at the office, it's time for a few project updates.
Summer is the busy season for watershed restoration projects because state rules allow work in streams only during the summer months, when construction activities pose the least impact on fish during critical life stages: migration, spawning and rearing. Projects are carefully planned to comply with this rule.
Today is an update on progress in Crystal Springs Creek. Stay tuned later for updates on a major culvert replacement in the Columbia Slough, the South Waterfront Central Greenway project, and happenings in Stephens Creek. These projects assist in the recovery of endangered species, such as coho and Chinook salmon, and steelhead trout, and help the city meet other environmental regulations. (See maps of where coho, Chinook, and steelhead are swimming in Portland).
Tacoma Culvert Replacement -- then and now
This is the sixth of nine culverts being replaced along Crystal Springs Creek to improve water flow, fish passage and water quality in this creek in SE Portland. Replacing old culverts with fish-friendly culverts (or removing them, when possible), will open up nearly three miles of prime habitat for threatened salmon species and help improve water quality in Johnson Creek and the Willamette River. New culvert designs also reduce flooding and have a longer life span than the old infrastructure.
The city partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to replace the old 4-foot wide culvert at Tacoma Street and SE 21st Ave with a new 14-foot wide culvert. To build the new culvert on this main arterial street while still allowing traffic in both directions, the construction was done in two phases. Travel lanes were shifted to one side of the street while each half of the culvert was constructed. In-water work is now complete and crews are working on installing the road, curbs, sidewalks, and railings by the end of October.
Westmoreland Park Restoration Project -- then and now
Crystal Springs Creek flows through Westmoreland Park on its way to the confluence with Johnson Creek. Migrating salmon avoided the duck pond there because the temperatures and sediment levels were too high. The pond also contributed to water quality problems down stream. This project, together with the culvert replacements on Crystal Springs Creek, will improve water quality and habitat while creating a healthier park for humans and wildlife.
Guided by the 2004 Master Plan for the park, this project removes the duck pond, creates a wetland in its place, and restores 2,400 linear feet of the creek to improve fish habitat. Environmental Services and Portland Parks & Recreation are working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete the project. Besides addressing water quality and habitat for native salmon, the project also benefits native waterfowl, amphibians, and mammals, and improves park amenities for visitors, including trails, a boardwalk, and viewpoints.
The in-water work is now complete and Crystal Springs Creek is flowing in its new channel. Other work continues on the site through mid-December.
For more information on the Tacoma Culvert and Westmoreland Park restoration projects, visit these sites: www.nwp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Currentprojects/CrystalSpringsCreekrestoration.aspx
Eastmoreland Golf Course Culvert Replacement
Culvert number seven on Crystal Springs Creek is also being replaced and on track to be completed this month. Environmental Services is working with Portland Parks & Recreation on a project in the Eastmoreland Golf Course to replace this culvert under a maintenance road.
The old culvert was made of three pipes that constrained creek flow. That's being replaced with a bridge that will span the natural channel of the creek. A grant from East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District helps fund this project. In-water work is complete on the site and crews are working on installing the new bridge deck.
After this fall, only two culverts remain blocking fish passage and impacting water quality in Crystal Springs Creek. Those culverts, under SE Bybee and SE Glenwood, will be replaced next year. For more information, visit www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/crystalsprings.
1 Comment
Honor Vallor
I am teaching an "Eco-Challenge" workshop based partly on this project on May 31st. at the Sellwood-Moreland Library. Then we will walk our leashed dogs from Westmoreland Park to the Tacoma Street culvert replacement area. I hope to gather lupine seeds when they ripen next month.
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"Breaking Bad" airs every Sunday night at 8 p.m. on AMC.
Latest Article|September 3, 2020|Free
::Making Grown Men Cry Since 1992
3 min read
While a TV series about the ups and downs of the meth-dealing business might not seem like the best on-screen exposure for New Mexico, AMC's new series "Breaking Bad" manages to be, arguably, the most true-to-life version of our fair state to date.Shot right here in Albuquerque last fall, the eight-episode show introduces us to high school chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston, fully exploiting the unhinged suburban edge he occasionally lent to "Malcolm in the Middle"). Poor Walter gets little respect from his students. His pregnant wife and disabled son seem to love (though not necessarily respect) him. Walter's meager salary doesn't make him the world's best provider. When not at school, he's working at a lowly car wash just trying to make ends meet. Walter, it seems, is in the market for a major midlife crisis. He finds the catalyst for just that when he's diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Unable to get any more depressed, Walter bounces off rock bottom and comes up with a desperate scheme to become a crystal meth dealer in order to provide for his family. He's already got the chemistry skills. Hooking up with a former delinquent student of his and building a mobile drug lab in a battered Winnebago, Walter starts cooking up some of the finest speed the Southwest has ever seen.Though it sounds like a grim premise for a show, "Breaking Bad" coats its subject with a pitch-black layer of humor. Bespectacled, badly mustached Walter mixing with hardcore gangstas is a sight to behold. Pushing the show's milquetoast hero into increasingly more desperate situations results in a certain volatile chemistry–you never know what's going to explode here or what the results are going to be. Hilarious or heartbreaking: "Breaking Bad" could go either way at any moment.Though it shares a few minor similarities with Showtime's suburban drug-dealing comedy "Weeds," "Breaking Bad" is far more weighted toward the thoughtful, dramatic side of things and spends a lot more time on character. The show is all about Walter and his poorly thought-out plan for financial independence. No matter how it turns out, he's doomed. And yet, ironically, there are hints that Walter's criminal activities are making him feel more alive than he has ever felt before.It's nice to see, for a change, Albuquerque actually playing Albuquerque on screen. I can't think of a time in the last few years that's actually been the case. Although some may argue that painting Albuquerque as a hotbed of drug-dealing isn't exactly good for the tourism industry, the show adopts neither an exploitative nor a rose-colored perspective. In today's corrupt climate, this story could have taken place just about anywhere. But the image of flabby, middle-aged Walter standing in the middle of the New Mexican desert in his tighty-whiteys with a Glock in his hand is priceless–right up there with David Bowie walking down a slag pile in Madrid or Benicio Del Toro shooting up the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas.


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Anyone from preschoolers to teens and moms to grandmas can enjoy self-expression or a beauty boost with painted nails. Yet, even with a wide consumer base, the category is rather shallow. With a global value of $3.3 billion, according to Euromonitor International, nail products is both the smallest color cosmetics category and the least dynamic. But there is hope for the future.
The preference for healthy, bare nails contributed to declines in some of the biggest markets between 2001 and 2006, reports Euromonitor, notably the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany and Italy. Marketers are addressing this trend by providing customers with products that make their natural nails appear healthier and brighter—Avon's Nail Expert and OPI's Nail Envy are examples. "We are seeing innovation in the nail care segment of the market—more activity in reparative, nutritive products," said Cara Robinson, Avon's executive marketing director of U.S. color.
Products enriched with light microsensors to produce an intense color and shine, such as Bourjois' Affinité, also enhance the
au naturale look.
"The natural look is a continuing trend, and I am always developing new sheer and natural colors that are universally flattering on all skin tones," added Essie Weingarten, founder of Essie nail polish.
Competition from salons is also having an effect—particularly in the U.S., which, at $592 million in 2006, is the world's largest nail products market, according to Euromonitor. As the at-home nail polish market tries to win back consumers from salons, marketers are concentrating on developing new color collections and adding nudes and neutrals to their existing palettes.
Recently, however, the market has received a boost from renewed interest in color and, notably, the resurgence of black polish. Dark nail color shades continue to be the hottest current trend, especially deep, dark blue. OPI's Russian Navy nail lacquer is one such trendsetter, which has been updated with Yoga-ta Get This Blue! from the brand's 2008 India Collection.
One of the few ways for companies to renew interest is to keep colors coming. "One would think the market is saturated, but the need for new colors and selection never ends," said Carolyn Cianciotto, creator of Carolyn New York, citing that consumers are always looking for what's new and what's on-trend.
"Trend colors pique interest, and while not everyone will want to wear a black nail polish, they may want to try something less bold but in the same color range," added Weingarten.
Muted pastels in shades of gray and taupe along with brighter, bolder colors, primarily for toes, are among color trends for spring. "Nails go bright in shades of fuchsia, coral, orange and red to complement colorful hues on the spring runways, although dark and neutral tones also will be popular," said Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, executive vice president and creative director, OPI.
Winning Strategy
While colors are of utmost importance, marketing strategies that appeal to consumers' softer side are the key. According to Carolyn Cianciotto, it's about the creativity of the names and the stories behind them. All of the Carolyn New York nail colors, for example, are named after experiences in the Big Apple, and the stories pique consumer interest. "We want to connect with them and build a loyalty and relationship," said Cianciotto. "We want consumers to feel like they're buying something personal."
Brands in general are working to present nail wear as a fun accessory for overall beauty, something that can be done easily at home. "Products will have to be multi-beneficial and presented in a way that's emotional—as a fashion or beauty accessory—but also functional," explained Avon's Robinson.
In addition to four seasonal nail polish collections, Essie launches special collections, such as an upcoming bridal series, and colors developed through special partnerships. The most recent partnership was the Essie E! Live from the Red Carpet red polish, developed in partnership with E! Entertainment. Essie has several other high-profile partnerships in the works as well. "We utilize a strategic advertising campaign and a full-scale public relations program that reaches the fashion and beauty authorities," said Weingarten. "Our strategic partnerships play a significant role in successful launches."
Convenience To Go
Fast and easy application is a priority for the modern makeup user, and flat brushes for seamless, even applications of nail lacquer are being redesigned with this in mind.
OPI's exclusive ProWide Brush is "extravagantly lush" and thick, precisely designed so that the specially shaped bristles align in a stack to create a smooth, flat surface. "This revolutionary design allows the brush to hold more nail lacquer, spread it more evenly, and deliver a streak-free application," explained Weiss-Fischmann.
Bourjois 1 Seconde, enriched with fast-drying silicones, also boasts a patented extra-broad "smart" brush that adapts to the size of each nail to provide one stroke application. The unique bottle cap and brush is held like a pen, featuring "non-skid zones" for a firm grip.
Mass-market brands also have to compete with salon application, which tends to look smoother and last longer, and this requires packaging and ingredient innovations. Maybelline's newest edition positions itself against such results. Salon Expert Nail Color features an exclusive curved precision brush that "hugs every curve for professional results." It also boasts iron and calcium for added strength to help prevent breaks and splits so the self-manicure lasts longer.
Similarly, Sally Hansen recently launched Salon nail lacquer with a patented formula featuring pure, micromilled pigments and silicone for the "ultimate application, color and shine," as well as a 650-bristle professional brush for a streak-free application. Special ingredients include a natural mineral complex and epoxy resin bond for hard, durable color, and UV protectors to help colors stay true.
Nail polish is also likely to appear on the UV radar screen as innovations utilize the potential of titanium or zirconium oxide nanoparticles to filter UV rays and improve nail polish resistance. For example, Avon's UV Gloss Guard Top Coat, introduced in 2005, features a built-in sun protection to keep nails looking glossy while helping to prevent yellowing and fading.
Convenience also means fuss-free applications and quick-drying formulations, and there are new expectations that nail products be increasingly free of toluene, formaldehyde and DBP—and that is both home nail products' challenge to the professional market and a formulation challenge. "We are always looking at ways to create products that are better for the environment, using more natural ingredients," said Essie Weingarten.
Companies that don't have the retail advantage, such as Avon, continue to position nail as the final step in a total home beauty regimen, positioning nail lacquer as a fashion accessory to complete every look. "We have to continuously provide a compelling communication story, with products that back it up, that replicates the salon look at home," said Robinson. According to Robinson, this means quick-drying, long-wearing or strengthening enamel plus great color. "We are currently exploring a range of new acrylate polymer technologies that are enabling us to make nail polishes for home use that have great, long-wearing shine," added Josie Adams, executive R&D director, Avon.
New colors and application technology could renew interest in a market lacking major innovation. It may not convince consumers who prefer the natural look, but could appeal to those who are not willing to invest in professional manicures. While such conveniences are unlikely to help nail polish exceed current lackluster forecasts, according to Euromonitor, it offers nail polish brands new hope in reviving sales.


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Loyalty carries a price and no one knows this more than agent Michael Thorton. A talented young agent cast out by his government, Thorton is the only one with the information needed to stop an impending international catastrophe. To do so means he must cut himself off from the very people he is sworn to protect. As players determine how to accomplish different objectives, the decisions made and actions taken in each mission will ultimately transform the type of secret agent Michael Thorton will become. Every choice the player makes as Michael Thorton will carry consequences for his future and the fate of the world.
Bad with decisions? Allow our walkthrough to guide you.
Hopes were high for Obsidian Entertainment's action-espionage RPG Alpha Protocol, but even months of delays couldn't save the game from an unpolished final product that left critics anxious to put down their controllers and sit down at their keyboards to write scathing reviews. Bad reviews led to slow sales and Sega made it official today: the Alpha Protocol franchise is one and done. Read More »
We were originally supposed to see Obsidian Entertainment's espionage RPG Alpha Protocol back in October 2009. Now, after seven months in the shop, we'll finally get to see what the developer has been working on for so long. Publisher Sega announced today Alpha Protocol has gone gold and is set to ship on June 1. Read More »
Obsidian Entertainment's anticipated espionage RPG Alpha Protocol missed its originally scheduled October release date, and things didn't look good as we approached the rescheduled "spring 2010" launch without a word from the company. But now it appears Obsidian and publisher Sega are finally on the same page: Alpha Protocol will hit the shelves on June 1. Read More »
At the tail end of last week MTV Multiplayer caught up with Sega's Matthew Hickman, who was demoing a new level from Obsidian's previously delayed Alpha Protocol. After checking out the new content, Hickman was asked how the extra development time has been used since the game was first unceremoniously bumped from October of last year to "spring 2010." Guess what's happening again? Read More »
One of the more interesting RPG titles currently in development is Obsidian's espionage affair, Alpha Protocol. Yesterday, the planned release date for the game got a rather troubling axe-kick to the side of the head and according to the official Sega site, went from "out now" to May 6th 2010 for Xbox 360 and PC, and "Spring 2010" for PlayStation 3.
Stifle back those tears and read more after the break. Read More »
Release Region: United Kingdom
Release Date: May 28, 2010
Publisher: SEGA
Release Region: Australia
Release Date: May 27, 2010
Publisher: SEGA
Also available on: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Alpha Protocol at IGN
Alpha Protocol Cheats at IGN
Alpha Protocol Guide at IGN
Alpha Protocol at GameSpy
Alpha Protocol at GameStats


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WASHINGTON -- Women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) do not appear undergo timely cervical cancer screening despite being at an increased risk for cervical dysplasia and persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, researchers reported here.
Based on an analysis of healthcare database information, rates of cervical cancer screening within 3 years were 75% among all eligible women versus 66% among SLE patients, according to Jennifer Stichman, MD, from the Denver Health Medical Center and the University of Colorado, and colleagues.
Action Points
- This study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
- Women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) do not appear undergo timely cervical cancer screening despite being at an increased risk for cervical dysplasia and persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.
- Point out that white women with SLE age 21-29 and patients age 30-50 were less likely than the general primary care population to have appropriate cervical cancer screening.
"Women who have lupus are at a higher risk of at least cervical dysplasia and they have a harder time getting rid of the HPV than women without lupus," Stichman told MedPage Today at her poster presentation at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.
"In our study, we think we have identified a gap in care for a large subset of women with lupus," Stichman said.
For this research, they identified rheumatology clinic patients with initial encounters between July 2006 and August 2011 who had lupus, were female, and were between the ages of 21-50 years.
They looked at screening rates at both 1-year and 3-year intervals depending on age, pointing out that the 2003 American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology guidelines recommend annual screening in women younger than 30.
Data was analyzed for 122 patients and 80% were nonwhite. Half of the women did not have health insurance.
In the SLE cohort, 60% of women, ages 30-50, underwent cervical cancer screening in 3 years compared with 81% of those ages 21-29 (P=0.0235). Women in the latter age group with a history of gynecologic care were had a higher likelihood of screening at 3 years (P=0.0378).
Also in that same age group, white women were less likely to have screening in 3 years compared to nonwhite women (P=0.0147), based on an unadjusted analyses.
In the 30-50 age group, seeing a primary care physician was associated with a higher likelihood of screening at 1 year (P=0.0013) and 3 years (P=0.0040). Again, a history of gynecology care was associated with increased likelihood of having a screening test at 1 year (P=0.0013) and 3 years (P=0.0003).
Finally, patients receiving immunosuppressive medications were no more likely to receive cervical cancer screening than other lupus patients.
Stichman suggested that rheumatologists should encourage their female SLE patients see a primary care physician or gynecologist for nonrheumatology care.
Christopher Morris, MD, a private practice rheumatologist in Kingsport, Tenn., told MedPage Today, that often women with lupus and other rheumatologic diseases tend to look at their rheumatologists as a primary care physician.
"I think a lot of older women tend to think, 'oh I'm seeing a doctor for my lupus, I guess don't need to see anyone else.' We try to make sure that they have a primary care physician," Morris said.
Stichman and co-authors reported no conflicts of interest.
Morris disclosed commercial interests with Abbott.
Primary Source
American College of Rheumatology
Source Reference: Stichman J, et al "Non-white race, younger age, and use of primary and gynecologic care are associated with higher rates of cervical cancer screening in systemic lupus erythematosus patients at a public hospital" ACR 2012; Abstract 655.


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28 February 2014 19:00 | to | 1 March 2014 01:00 |
An exclusive appointment is waiting for you at Luna Hotel Baglioni, the most ancient Hotel in town, to celebrate the Carnival of Venice during the prestigiuos Great Baglioni Party, in the real atmosphere of 1700!
We will welcome you with a special Cocktail starting from 7.00 pm in the elegant Fireplace room: in the magic atmosphere in front of the warm of fireplace, you will be delighted by the typical Venetian canapé and the famous Bellini and Rossini.
From 8.00 pm in the elegant Marco Polo Ballroom, a real artistic jewel with the original frescoes of the XVIII Century of the School of Tiepolo, you will be involved by our Masters of Minuetto Dance: have fun with our Carnival Artists and new friends… And don't miss to parade your Venetian Carnival Costumes and traditional Masks in this marvellous setting!
Our Chef Cosimo will attempt your palates by a special Carnival Dinner and the traditional Venetian delicacies: Frittelle and Galani as much you wish!
Our Carnival Artists will amuse you with their funny Carnival sketch during the evening and the party will continue with our Disk Jockey: International covers, rock, ball room and latin dance, the great '70s & '80s music …….to dance till late!!
An unforgettable evening waiting for you at Luna Hotel Baglioni to experience the real Venetian Carnival!
Terms and Condition:
Dress Code: Carnival Costume (Costume d'Epoque or elegant dress with Mask and Cloak)
Rate: 290,00 Euro per person (Vat and Wine from Canova Selection included).
Cancellation Policy: by 12.00 p.m. of 21st February 2014, with the hole rate as penalty.


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Federal Judge In Hawaii Freezes Trump's New Travel Ban
A federal judge in Hawaii on Wednesday issued a sweeping freeze of President Donald Trump's new executive order hours before it would have temporarily barred the issuance of new visas to citizens of six Muslim-majority countries and suspended the admission of new refugees.
In a blistering 43-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson pointed to Trump's own comments and those of his close advisers as evidence that his order was meant to discriminate against Muslims and declared there was a "strong likelihood of success" that those suing would prove the directive violated the Constitution.
Watson declared that "a reasonable, objective observer – enlightened by the specific historical context, contemporaneous public statements, and specific sequence of events leading to its issuance – would conclude that the Executive Order was issued with a purpose to disfavor a particular religion."
He lambasted the government, in particular, for asserting that because the ban did not apply to all Muslims in the world, it could not be construed as discriminating against Muslims.
"The illogic of the Government's contentions is palpable," Watson wrote. "The notion that one can demonstrate animus toward any group of people only by targeting all of them at once is fundamentally flawed."
At a rally in Nashville, Trump called the ruling "terrible" and asked a cheering crowd whether the ruling was "done by a judge for political reasons." He said the administration would fight the case "as far as it needs to go," including up to the Supreme Court, and rued that he had been persuaded to sign a "watered-down version" of his first travel ban.
"Let me tell you something, I think we ought to go back to the first one and go all the way," Trump said. "The danger is clear, the law is clear, the need for my executive order is clear."
Sarah Isgur Flores, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, said in a statement: "The Department of Justice strongly disagrees with the federal district court's ruling, which is flawed both in reasoning and in scope. The President's Executive Order falls squarely within his lawful authority in seeking to protect our Nation's security, and the Department will continue to defend this Executive Order in the courts."
Watson was one of three federal judges to hear arguments Wednesday about the ban, though he was the first to issue an opinion. Federal judges in Washington state and Maryland said they would issue opinions soon.
As the ruling in Hawaii was being handed down, James Robart, the federal judge in Washington state who froze Trump's first travel ban, was hearing arguments about whether he should freeze the second. He said he did not think his first freeze was still in effect, though he did not immediately rule on whether he should issue a new one.
Watson's decision might not be the last word. He was considering only a request for a temporary restraining order, and while that required him to assess whether challengers of the ban would ultimately succeed, his ruling is not final on that question. The Justice Department could appeal the ruling or wage a longer-term court battle before the judge in Hawaii.
Watson's decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by Hawaii. Lawyers for the state alleged that the new entry ban, much like the old, violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment because it was essentially a Muslim ban, hurt the ability of state businesses and universities to recruit top talent, and damaged the state's robust tourism industry.
They pointed to the case of Ismail Elshikh, the imam of the Muslim Association of Hawaii, whose mother-in-law's application for an immigrant visa was still being processed. Under the new executive order, attorneys for Hawaii said, Elshikh feared that his mother-in-law, a Syrian national, would ultimately be banned from entering the United States.
"Dr. Elshikh certainly has standing in this case. He, along with all of the Muslim residents in Hawaii, face higher hurdles to see family because of religious faith," lawyer Colleen Roh Sinzdak said at a hearing Wednesday. "It is not merely a harm to the Muslim residents of the state of Hawaii, but also is a harm to the United States as a whole and is against the First Amendment itself."
Elshikh is a U.S. citizen of Egyptian descent who has been a resident of Hawaii for over a decade. His wife is of Syrian descent and is also a resident of Hawaii.
Justice Department lawyers argued that Trump was well within his authority to impose the ban, which was necessary for national security, and that those challenging it had raised only speculative harms. "They bear the burden of showing irreparable harm . . . and there is no harm at all," said the acting U.S. solicitor general, Jeffrey Wall, who argued on behalf of the government in Greenbelt, Md., in the morning and by phone in Hawaii in the afternoon.
Watson agreed with the state on virtually all the points. He ruled that the state had preliminarily demonstrated its universities and tourism industry would be hurt, and that harm could be traced to the executive order. He wrote that Elshikh had alleged "direct, concrete injuries to both himself and his immediate family."
And Watson declared that the government's assertion of the national security need for the order was "at the very least, 'secondary to a religious objective' of temporarily suspending the entry of Muslims." He pointed to Trump's own campaign trail comments and public statements by advisers as evidence.
"For instance, there is nothing 'veiled' about this press release: 'Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,' " Watson wrote. "Nor is there anything 'secret' about the Executive's motive specific to the issuance of the Executive Order. Rudolph Giuliani explained on television how the Executive Order came to be. He said: 'When [Mr. Trump] first announced it, he said, 'Muslim ban.' He called me up. He said, 'Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it legally.' "
Watson also pointed to a recent Fox News appearance by Stephen Miller, in which the president's senior policy adviser said the new ban would have "mostly minor technical differences" from the previous iteration frozen by the courts, and Americans would see "the same basic policy outcome for the country."
"These plainly-worded statements, made in the months leading up to and contemporaneous with the signing of the Executive Order, and, in many cases, made by the Executive himself, betray the Executive Order's stated secular purpose," Watson wrote.
Opponents of the ban across the country – including those who had argued against it in different cases on Wednesday – hailed Watson's ruling.
Bob Ferguson, the Washington state attorney general who asked Robart to block the measure, called the Hawaii ruling "fantastic news." Justin Cox, a staff attorney for the National Immigration Law Center who argued for a restraining order in the case in Maryland, said, "This is absolutely a victory and should be celebrated as such, especially because the court held that the plaintiffs, that Hawaii was likely to succeed on its establishment clause claim which essentially is that the primary purpose of the executive order is to discriminate against Muslims."
Cox said while the judge did not halt the order entirely, he blocked the crucial sections – those halting the issuance of new visas and suspending the refugee program. Left intact, Cox said, were lesser-known provisions, including one that orders Homeland Security and the U.S. attorney general to publicize information about foreign nationals charged with terrorism-related offenses and other crimes. He said the provision seems designed to whip up fear of Muslims.
"It's a shaming device that it's really a dehumanizing device," he said. "It perpetuates this myth, this damaging stereotype of Muslims as terrorists."
Trump's new entry ban had suspended the U.S. refugee program for 120 days and halted for 90 days the issuance of new visas to people from six Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and Syria. It was different from the first entry ban in that it omitted Iraq from the list of affected countries, did not affect current visa or green-card holders and spelled out a robust list of people who might be able to apply for exceptions.
The administration could have defended the first ban in court – though it chose instead to rewrite the president's executive order in such a way that it might be more defensible. The next step might have been to persuade the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to rehear the case en banc, after a three-judge panel with the court upheld the freeze on Trump's ban.
Hawaii is a part of the 9th Circuit, so the legal road could pass through the appeals court there again. Perhaps previewing the contentious fight ahead, five of the circuit's judges on Wednesday signed a dissenting opinion in the case over the original travel ban, declaring Trump's decision to issue the executive order was "well within the powers of the presidency." The judges wanted to wipe out a ruling by a three-judge panel declaring otherwise.
"Above all, in a democracy, we have the duty to preserve the liberty of the people by keeping the enormous powers of the national government separated," Judge Jay S. Bybee wrote for the dissenters. "We are judges, not Platonic Guardians. It is our duty to say what the law is, and the meta-source of our law, the U.S. Constitution, commits the power to make foreign policy, including the decisions to permit or forbid entry into the United States, to the President and Congress."
The dissent was signed by Judges Bybee, Sandra Ikuta, Consuelo Callahan and Carlos Bea, who all were appointed by President George W. Bush; and Judge Alex Kozinski, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan. It seemed to represent a minority view. The circuit has 25 active judges, and the court said a majority had not voted in favor of reconsidering the three-judge panel's published opinion to keep Trump's first ban frozen.
That opinion was signed by Judges Michelle Friedland, who was appointed by President Barack Obama; Richard Clifton, who was appointed by President George W. Bush; and Judge William Canby Jr. and Judge Stephen Reinhardt formally joined their opinion Wednesday and remarked that only a "small number" of 9th Circuit judges wanted to overturn it.


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It's no secret that the White House, regardless of Administration, releases unpopular news on Friday afternoons. On the popular television drama West Wing, the fictional Bartlett Administration calls it "Take out the trash day." We shouldn't be too surprised that the Obama Administration released Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that will increase the price at the pump on Good Friday.
The EPA's new Tier 3 regulations require a reduction in the amount of sulfur in gasoline to an average of 10 parts per million (ppm) by January 2017, down 70 percent from the current average of 30ppm today. The new regulation is similar to those standards of California, Japan, and South Korea.
A study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute found that reducing sulfur to 10ppm will increase gas prices 6 cents to 9 cents per gallon—although the study does not specifically analyze the newly proposed EPA regulation. The analysis also mentions that if the EPA proposes an additional vapor reduction regulation, that cost increase will skyrocket to 25 cents per gallon.
The EPA contends that the Tier 3 regulations would add $3.4 billion per year in compliance costs passed on to the consumer, but that in 2030, the annual monetized health benefits (which have been exaggerated) would be between $8 billion and $23 billion. The refining industry, however, is saying the rule would be far more expensive, provide minimal environmental benefits, and that those costs would be passed down to the consumer—if the refineries can even stay in business. Because refineries operate on such thin margins already, implementation of these regulations could result in a number of refinery closures. Such closures could squeeze supply chains and further increase the price of gas.
Dramatic improvements have already been made in reducing sulfur in gasoline. The Tier 2 regulations finalized in 2000 and fully implemented in 2006 have reduced the sulfur content in gasoline 90 percent since 2004. As president of the trade group American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Charlie Drevna testified, those gains will continue to occur:
EPA data shows that total emissions of the six principal air pollutants in the United States have dropped by 57 percent since 1980 and ozone levels have decreased by 30 percent. These reductions occurred even as industrial output and the number of vehicles on the road have increased. EPA data indicates there will be continued reductions in the years ahead under regulations already in place.
The increased stringency of the sulfur regulation in gasoline will add costs to families already struggling to pay at the pump for little environmental benefit. The Tier 2 regulations in place are stringent enough that the costs to Americans for additional EPA regulations will be high and the benefits will be minimal.
Congress should use any means necessary to prevent the EPA from implementing Tier 3 gas regulations.


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S. Donald Sussman just pulled the rug out from under Portland's India Street neighborhood, leaving residents, business owners and even his own realtor scratching their heads in disappointment and dismay. After nearly half a decade of benign neglect on his watch, it looks like the fabulously wealthy hedge fund manager, Maine media mogul, political cash machine and philanthropist will be content to leave much of the small neighborhood he owns at the foot of Munjoy Hill in dilapidated conditions for at least another year.
The Other Donald, as I affectionately call him, has suspended plans to build a six-story condominium and commercial complex between Franklin and Hampshire streets. The project would have included 26 residential units, 15 of which had already been reserved by hopeful buyers.
I noted in a column last month that this neighborhood was historically home to working-class Italian and Jewish immigrants. Sussman's project would have improved the appearance of the area, where many of the multi-family homes have deteriorated over the decades, but most working people could not have afforded to live there. The one-bedroom condos cost upwards of $300,000, and the two-bedroom units approached — and, in some cases, exceeded — half a million bucks.
Sussman and his wife, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, own a home in this neighborhood and actually live in it from time to time (Pingree's official residence is on North Haven). As detailed in a cover story I wrote for The Bollard last January ("Donald Sussman's Dumps"), Sussman was drawn to this part of town five years ago by Kevin Mattson, a politically connected real estate developer.
Sussman and Mattson formed a limited liability company in 2008 called Rebeco, whose name refers to the general shape and location of the area they planned to rebuild: the rectangle below Congress Street. Then they went on a buying spree, snapping up properties for, in some cases, several times their assessed value. City tax records currently list eight properties in the neighborhood owned by Rebeco. Several of them are vacant, and nearly all still look dumpy.
In 2010, Sussman took full control of Rebeco (Mattson described their split as amicable), but he still didn't have a plan. Meanwhile, the neighbors were getting anxious. "The allowing of over 11 units to fall into disuse and be padlocked, and for the buildings to receive no further maintenance, is allowing the continuation of urban blight in this neighborhood," said Hugh Nazor, president of the India Street Neighborhood Association, which formed in part to address the problems Sussman's properties were causing.
Nazor and his neighbors were encouraged when Sussman, represented by his lawyer, Tom Federle, reached out to them two years ago to get their ideas for the project. Nazor called the plans that resulted "a wonderful compromise" that addressed the pressing need to bring more residents to the area.
Now the neighbors are singing a different tune. "We're very disappointed that, for various reasons that have not been explained to us … Mr. Sussman has decided not to proceed with the project at this time," Nazor told me this week.
Nazor said he got word of the project's fate "some weeks ago," but Ed Gardner of Ocean Gate Realty, who'd been selling condos in the project for months, only found out from Federle this past Monday. "He said Donald just decided not to do the project and doesn't want to develop it. That's the only explanation we were given, unfortunately," Gardner said.
Sussman's decision is "a huge disappointment" for the would-be condo owners, who already put $1,000 down to secure their unit, said Gardner, who added that the deposits will be returned.
Federle told me the project is not necessarily dead but definitely postponed, due to "a whole range of issues," none of which he could clearly articulate. A statement Sussman released shed no additional light. "[A] variety of factors makes the proposed condominium project not quite ready yet, so we are hitting the 'pause' button for now," it reads in part.
So the neighborhood gets no good answers, no new neighbors, no idea when redevelopment might begin and no improvements to Sussman's crummy buildings in the interim. Meanwhile, nearly a dozen potentially habitable, affordable apartments remain vacant while hundreds of homeless people shiver through another Portland winter.
I appreciate Sussman's efforts to improve this city, and I don't think he proposed the condo project just to make a buck. He doesn't need any more bucks, but that's part of the problem. He's wealthy enough to treat this neighborhood like his personal Monopoly board. Neighbors fed up with the blight his delays perpetuate can only wait for him to roll again, but for them, this is not a game.


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Hey, statement shoes . . . walk on by!
Style Section LA declares 2010 the year for statement spectacles with a feature story written by frame fashion fanatic Jeremy Allen. Highlighted with l.a.Eyeworks are the O'mazing O'Connell sisters, Amy and Katie, at Society of the Spectacle, and the master craftsman Sung Kim at Eyetailor.
This provocative article is already raising eyebrows among the bespectacled: Was Jeremy truly capable of fibbing his way into frames? Does anyone else sense a Gai Gherardi-Steve Jobs throw down coming? Why are the socialite pug princesses Penny and Violet absent from the Society of the Spectacle portrait? Dig through the clues here.


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NetworkWorld just posted about the largest DDoS ever seen using IoT devices (Original posted here). For those that have seen one of my recent Keynotes or Ciscolive talk, you would have saw this slide showcasing the prediction of how many devices will be online by by 2030. That means if we have around 15 billion devices today and growth is targeting 500 billion … that is a lot of devices that must be IP enabled meaning a lot of IoT.
This attack is just one example of what could happen if we continue to not hold any device with IP capabilities accountable for security concerns. Check out this article and think about what could happen if instead of 1 million … it was 1 billion devices behind this attack! Nobody would be safe from that size of volume based DoS weapon.
Securing the internet of things should become a major priority now that an army of compromised devices – perhaps 1 million strong – has swamped one of the industry's top distributed denial-of-service protection services.
It wasn't that Akamai couldn't mitigate the attack – it did so for three days – but doing so became too costly, so the company made a business decision to cut the affected customer loose, says Andy Ellis the company's chief security officer.
he delivery network has dropped protection for the Krebs on Security blog written by Brian Krebs after an attack delivering 665Gbps of traffic overwhelmed his site Tuesday. The size of the attack was nearly double that of any Akamai had seen before.
An IoT botnet generating this much traffic is a bellwether event that Ellis says will take some time to analyze to come up with more efficient mitigation tools.
Its impact is similar to the 2010 attacks by Anonymous using the open source, low-orbit ion cannon tool, or the 2014 DDoS attacks launched from compromised Joomla and WordPress servers, he says.
The lesson for enterprises is that the DDoS protections they have in place need to be tweaked to handle higher attack volumes, he says.
IoT exploited
The massive Krebs on Security assault is the work of a botnet made up primarily of internet of things devices, according to Akamai. So many devices were used, in fact, that the attacker didn't have to employ common tactics that amplify the impact of individual devices, Ellis says.
The number of machines in the latest botnet is still unknown, and could be as large as a million. "We're still trying to size it," he says. "We think that might be an overestimate but it's also possible that will be a real estimate once we get into the numbers."
With estimates of 21 billion IoT devices by 2020, the scale of botnets that might be created by these relatively unprotected machines could be enormous, says Dave Lewis, a global security advocate for Akamai who spoke Thursday at the Security of Things Forum in Cambridge, Mass.
"What if an attacker injects code into devices to create a Fitbit botnet?" he says. Researchers have already shown it's possible to wirelessly load malware onto a Fitbit in less than 10 seconds, he says, so the possibility isn't fantastic.
Some of the attacking machines are running clients known to run on cameras, he says. "It's possible they are faking it or it's possible it's a camera that was doing these attacks," he says. "There are indicators that there are IoT devices here, at scale"
The attack didn't use reflection or amplification, so all the traffic consisted of legitimate http requests to overwhelm Krebs's site, Ellis says. "It's not junk traffic."
A lot of things about the attack are still unknown such as who's behind it and what method the botmasters used to infect the individual bots.
Ellis says some other providers Akamai had contacted report similar but smaller attacks likely from the same botnet. Many of them were aimed toward gaming sites, and Krebs has written about such attacks, so there may be a connection there, he says.
Akamai will analyze the attack and devise tools to fight similar attacks, Ellis says.
Krebs has tweeted about the attack after Akamai stopped protecting his site. "I can't really fault Akamai for their decision. I likely cost them a ton of money today," he wrote. "So long everyone. It's been real."


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You've DONE a consumer DNA Test and are concerned about the results…
You have every right to be concerned, here are just some of the reasons why:
Although only one company is approved to share information about medical risk for some health conditions, nearly all companies share the raw data; research finds nearly 40% of medical data from these tests may be false positives. Your DNA contains deeply personal information about your health, personality and familial history. This information can potentially be used to discriminate against you in the workplace, affect your ability to acquire insurance policies and can even be sold, without your knowledge, to research companies.
The number of people requesting a direct-to-consumer DNA test during 2017 more than doubled from one year prior. According to Ancestry.com they claim the largest DNA database with more than 7 million people's DNA stored.1 While tests like these are highly advertised and an incredibly popular way of determining your ancestry, these at-home tests may provide false health information and even place your privacy at risk.2,3
Progression and advancements have occurred in science beginning all the way back in the 1920's when the method first used to identify people and determine relationships was with blood typing. In the 1970s technology had advanced to using tissue typing called HLA, or human leukocyte antigen protein that was present on all tissues except within a red blood cell.
In the 1980's the RFLP, or Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism analysis technique was developed which became the first genetic test using DNA. In our current decade (2010), researchers are using next-generation sequencing or massively parallel sequencing as the newest technique for genetic analysis.4
DNA may potentially be used to map out your family tree, determine the ancestry of your dog, solve crimes or help your physician identify any genetic component to a health condition, such as whether or not a woman carries the HER2 gene, knowledge of which could help provide a more focused and specific treatment.6 However, while solving crimes and identification of specific proteins to drive treatment protocols are completed in highly regulated labs set up to protect your privacy, direct-to-consumer DNA tests are not.
In a limited study completed by Ambry Genetics,7 a small medical lab in California, researchers discovered using at-home DNA tests to assess for risk of certain diseases or other non-phenotypic traits, such as eye color, resulted in a 40 percent false positive reading.8
What Ambry found was consumer labs test genotype DNA rather than sequencing it, and used just one method. Although this method is cheaper and quicker than clinical sequencing, it is also less effective and accurate than the clinical lab method of sequencing and using another test to confirm a positive variant.
A spokesperson from 23andMe, an at-home DNA test company, discussed the study with a reporter from Gizmodo, telling them 23andMe customers receive a warning that the raw data is not necessarily accurate or appropriate for medical use.9 Yet how many patients have brought these results into their physicians and had treatment recommendations given, based on potentially inaccurate results?
As 23andMe is the only company with FDA approval to market genetic health risk tests for certain conditions, many companies simply offer raw data without an explanation and post a general disclaimer that the results are not verified for accuracy.
The authors of the featured study noted false results about genetic disorders might lead people to better preventive care, but may also create needless anxiety over a nonexistent issue.10 For instance while you may have a genetic marker for a health condition, you may never develop it and vice versa. Genetics plays a role in disease development, but in many cases your lifestyle choices and environment play a larger role. Said differently, genetics loads the gun and environment pulls the trigger.
Your DNA is your most personal data. In a day and age where many large companies are unable to keep passwords and credit card numbers safe, is it realistic to believe they will be able to keep your DNA data safe?
If testing is what you are looking for then you have come to the right place, set up an appointment today to speak with one of our healthcare professionals. Testing is the key to finding answers and getting great results. We look forward to helping you achieve your health care goals.
- Ancestry.com, Company Overview
- Genetics in Medicine, May 22, 2018, doi: 10.1038/gim.2018.38
- Scientific American, November 27, 2013
- DNA Diagnostic Center, History of DNA Testing
- CNN, April 25, 2013
- American Cancer Society, Breast Cancer HER2 Status
- Genetics in Medicine, May 22, 2018, doi: 10.1038/gim2018.38
- TechTimes, April 2, 2018
- Gizmodo, Another Reminder That Consumer DNA Tests Are Not 100% Accurate
- Newsweek, April 2, 2018


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AMD's Quad FX: Technically Quad Core
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 30, 2006 1:16 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Imagine for a moment you're at the decision making table at AMD; you are at least a year away from introducing an updated micro-architecture to refresh your now aging K8 design and your chief competitor just introduced faster and cooler CPUs than anything in your lineup. To make matters worse, this very same competitor enjoys a manufacturing advantage and has also announced that it will begin the transition to quad-core even earlier than originally expected, starting at the end of 2006. The earliest you can even hope to release a quad-core CPU is the middle of 2007. What do you do?
AMD's first move made sense, and that was to dramatically reduce the pricing of its entire lineup to remain competitive. Most computer components are not things you can buy and sell off of emotions alone, and thus something that performs worse must cost less. Through the price drops AMD actually ended up with a fairly attractive dual core lineup, although our similarly aggressive pricing from Intel meant that the most attractive AMD CPUs were the cheapest ones.
But what was AMD to do about the quad-core race? Even though Intel would release its first quad-core CPUs this year, less than 1% of all shipments would feature four cores. It won't be until the end of 2007 before more than 5% of Intel's shipments are quad-core CPUs. But would the loss in mindshare be great enough if Intel already jumped ahead in the race to more cores?
Manufacturing a quad-core Athlon 64 or Opteron on AMD's current 90nm process simply isn't feasible; AMD would end up with a chip that is too big and too hot to sell, not to mention that it would put an even greater strain on AMD's manufacturing which is already running at capacity.
With the 90nm solution being not a very good one, there's always the "wait until 2007" option, which honestly seemed like a very good one to us. We just mentioned that Intel wasn't going to be shipping many of these quad-core CPUs and the majority of users, even enthusiasts who are traditionally early adopters, will stay away from quad-core until 2007 at the earliest to begin with.
Then there's the third option, the one AMD ended up taking; instead of building quad-core on 90nm or waiting until next year, around April/May of 2006 AMD decided that it had a better solution. AMD would compete in the quad-core race by the end of 2006 but with two dual core CPUs running in a desktop motherboard.
Of course dual-core, dual-socket is nothing new, as AMD has been offering that on Opteron platforms for quite a while now. But the difference is that this new platform would be designed for the enthusiast, meaning it would come equipped with a performance tuned (and tweakable) BIOS, tons of USB ports, support for SLI, etc... Most importantly, unlike an Opteron system, this dual socket desktop platform would run using regular unbuffered DDR2 memory.
Back then the platform was called 4x4, and honestly it was about as appealing as a pickup truck. The platform has since matured and thanks to a very impressive chipset from NVIDIA and aggressive pricing from AMD, what's now known as Quad FX may actually have some potential. Today we're here to find out if AMD's first four-core desktop platform is a viable competitor to Intel's Kentsfield, or simply an embarrassing knee-jerk reaction.
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VooDooAddict - Saturday, December 2, 2006 - link
It strikes me as odd that you haven't reviewed a Dual Xeon 5300 system.
While the motherboards aren't geared toward the enthusiast. It would seem anyone who could really benefit from two Dual core Athlon FXs would get incredibly more bang for the $$ out of a Dual Xeon 5300 system giving them 8 cores on an established and sure to be supported platform.
I only see two major drawbacks to the Dual Xeon as opposed to 4x4.
You don't have access to SLI. That's unimportant though as people who want SLI would be better served with an Intel QX6700 on an NVIDIA 680i.
You need FB-DIMMs. Considering the expense you are already at with any Dual CPU system, and the types of activities you'd need to be doing to get real benefit. ECC probably wouldn't be a bad thing to have.
I'd love to see a review of a Xeon 5300 System with a 8800GTX. -
yyrkoon - Friday, December 8, 2006 - link
To the best of my knowledge ECC memory is usually slower compared to non ECC memory. Also, if I didn't read it here, I read it somewhere else, not only is FB-DIMM memory more expensive, it also does not perform as well compared to standard DDR2 memory.
I think, for now, if you're wanting the best of both PC/server worlds, you would have to settle for a motherboard similar to Asus' Workstation, or Pro line. However, you would still be stuck with a single CPU, with multiple cores, but you would have SLI, PCI-X, and 2-3 PCI 2.3 slots :) As for memory quantity, anything more than 4 GB on a 32 bit OS is a waste (unless you use the right OS with the equivalent of the /PEA boot option, which I understand can cause some system instabilities) -
yyrkoon - Friday, December 1, 2006 - link
As far as I can remember, using multiple CPUs (as in socket, not core), has always shown diminishing returns. In fact, I think I remember reading something to that effect here on this web site (or maybe it was TH?). Regardless, having several Dual CPU boxen around, and have had the chance to play around with a few Quad CPU systems, I've seen this with my own two eyes.
I did not start reading this article with the belief that AMDs solution would beat an Intel quad setup, but I did have hopes that AMDS system would be at least feasible. The way I see it, from these results, AMD should have never even bothered with this design, and would have better spent their time working on future technology.
A few more mistakes like this, and pretty soon the only choice we're going to have is Intel, and it doesn't matter which company you buy from. We all should be hoping this never happens. My current system right now, is an AM2 system, and I have to say, I'm a bit miffed at AMD for leaving customers like myself out in the cold, when it comes to performance CPUs. So now, since I spent less than $200 for my current Motherboard / CPU, I think I'll Leave AMD in the dust (before they get the chance to do the same to me), and opt for an Intel system board, and CPU, for my next upgrade. -
stepz - Sunday, December 3, 2006 - link
he way I see it, from these results, AMD should have never even bothered with this design, and would have better spent their time working on future technology.
To be fair, the engineering effort was close to zero. They sell almost exactly the same stuff as Opterons, only in shinier boxes and surrounded by a lot more nonsense buzzwords. This product is brought to you mainly by the marketing department. -
fitten - Friday, December 1, 2006 - link
As far as I can remember, using multiple CPUs (as in socket, not core), has always shown diminishing returns.
Amdahl's Law. -
T Rush - Thursday, November 30, 2006 - link
I'm really not that thrilled to see a brand new Intel CPU barely squeak by a similar config from AMD that is using a CPU architecture that is over 4 years old
I just gave Anand Lal Shimpi's article a closer inspection, we do see an advantage to the new Intel Core2 Q 65nm Kentsfield, but its not as large as I think it should be compared to the AMD64 90nm K8/Hammer dual cores times two...and however the pricing also doesn't reflect the large advantage you would expect to find with a newer more efficient design: as tested the two FX-74's are priced the same as the Extreme QX6700, and then next we see that two FX-72's under pricing the coming Quad Q6600 by a noticeable amount, and last we don't see a Quad Core2 to compete with the two FX-70's at the lowest $599 for the pair...I would expect the newer tech to not only be a much better performer, but also less expensive as well
....but to my surprise Shimpi almost caused me to fall out of my chair when I got to the last page and one of his biggest complaints was the higher price of the competition's motherboard!!!!, this to him seems to be a problem for AMD now, but the Intel systems he has tested before he was willing to overlook....here with this comparison he has a problem with the total system cost(mobo+cpus) being higher do to the motherboard being over one third more expensive as tested; $370(which he later even 'rounds up' to $400) for the AMD vs. $260 for the Intel, looking at $110 difference
....oddly with even his own widely revered "Tremendous Value Through Overclocking" that he wrote, where the focus is in fact "Value"(not something that I would think is "as big" of an issue when looking at the highest priced/performing/featured/etc. systems that you could possibly buy today) he completely was not bothered by the fact that he was using a $250 motherboard for the "Value" Intel CPUs at as much as $120 difference more to the $130 AMD board he used where value was a factor in that earlier case ..what!!! -
fitten - Friday, December 1, 2006 - link
Well... the parts that "barely squeak by" are also running at only 80% of the clock frequency... 2.4GHz Q6600 compared to 3.0GHz AMD FX... and Intel's Core2 architecture seems to have plenty of headroom to go to higher clockspeeds on Intel's whim... 3.6GHz overclocks are pretty common with the Core2Duo parts (and the Quad parts are the same exact cores).
There's no doubt that the Core2 architecture from Intel is the largest CPU performance bump in a number of years... previous years were almost stagnant as we saw 200MHz to 400MHz clock frequency increases on the same cores as the previous year. Core2 was a performance jump that was similar to the days of the Pentium3 timeframe. -
T Rush - Thursday, November 30, 2006 - link
was anyone really expecting AMD's "4X4" system using two CPUs built using the 4 or 5 year old K8/Hammer CPU architecture to out-perform Intel's latest release using its newest recent Core2 architecture?...I would hope not
...if anything Intel should have been able to pull off a much larger victory in price and performance....where the only clear major advantage that shows the large difference you would expect to see when comparing very new tech to much older was with the power consumption, which I wouldn't think is that great of concern with any system that is running four cores and most likely dual high end video cards(or more) in a "all out" highest performing/benchmarking gaming desktop system
the over all win does go to the Intel on this dual dual core battle..but personally I would have liked to of seen a much broader margin before putting all my eggs in one basket as many will do
cryptonomicon - Friday, December 1, 2006 - link
Thats an incredible amount of power... 450w!! Now that's what I need to keep my room warm this winter :D -
JarredWalton - Friday, December 1, 2006 - link
You can overclock an E6300 even higher on a lot of P965 boards than on the $225 ASUS P5W DH. The motherboard chosen was used for consistency in benchmarking, not because it is the recommended "budget overclocking" motherboard for socket 775. As for QX6700 barely outperforming FX-74, there's a couple of things to keep in mind. First, you can't buy the AMD chips yet, whereas QX6700 is actually available (albeit a bit expensive). Second, the past indicates that 3.0 GHz is pretty clearly to limit of AMD's current chips on 90 nm.
Meanwhile you have QX6700 systems shipping factory overclocked at 3.33 GHz and beyond. Sure, with that level of overclocking, the power draw might actually begin to be similar between the two platforms. However, a 25% overclock of a Core 2 Quad certainly isn't going to close the margins. And given that these are indigenous platforms we are talking about, overclocking is going to be far more common than not I would say.
I'm not sure on Q6600 pricing either (since it's not available), though I've heard at least one rumor suggest the price has dropped to around $500. Guess we'll wait and see there as well. Basically, we are see Core 2 Quad beat AMD's latest and greatest in almost every test, without even pushing the clock speed limits. In seven months, we can evaluate again, and maybe AMD will have the lead.
Basically, we should expect the margin of victory to be slightly lower with a single socket quad core going up against dual socket dual core then it was with Core 2 Duo going up against Athlon X2. The dual sockets give more memory bandwidth, so particularly when running a NUMA aware operating system, things should be pretty close when comparing FX-74 against QX6700. AMD was basically able to close the performance gap somewhat by throwing more power and hardware at the problem, sort of similar to what Intel did with Pentium D. It wasn't a good solution when Intel did it, and it's not a good solution now. It is "OK" at best.